ii6 A Fciv E.vf^rrimriifs. 



try their hick at this, in the writer's opinion, most interesting- 

 branch of aviculture. As is well known, however, others, notably 

 our member the Marcjuis of 'ravi>l(jck, have met with a very fair 

 measure of success. 



My first venture in this direction was an experiment carried 

 out some few years a,u:b with a pair of Virginian Cardinals. 

 I was living- at that time in Wales and had control of a good 

 stretch of the surrounding country, which made things much 

 easier, for neither the human nor the feline beasts of prey had 

 tc be reckoned with. The birds stayed well, and the cock, as 

 may be readily imagined, was a joy to behold as it dashed about 

 the garden, a gorgeous splash of flaming crimson against the 

 surrounding greenery. He was of the small southern race, 

 very much richer and more brilliant in colour than its relatives 

 farther north, and wdiat is. perhaps, rather unexpected, much 

 the better songster of the two. Early mornings and late 

 evenings he would mount to the summit of a tall Scotch fir, 

 about seventy yards from my bedroom window, and remain in 

 full view, a most conspicuous^ object. From thence until quite 

 dark he would serenade us with his clear, melodious ringing 

 notes — a picture that will not easily fade from the mind. The 

 hen very soon went to nest, and for a time my hopes were of the 

 rosiest. Three chicks were hatched, and the nest being beauti- 

 fully constructed, w^ell protected from the weather and snugly 

 hidden amongst a dense mass of ivy and Virginia creeper, I 

 regarded success as assured. Such, however, w-as not to be. for 

 on the eleventh morning after hatching I found the nest empty 

 and not a trace to be seen of either the old hen or the young. 

 Rats or a stoat were the presumed murderers in this case. The 

 cock still remained about the garden for some weeks after this, 

 and, apparently soon forgetting his murdered family, he pro- 

 ceeded to make desperate advances upon a second hen in one of 

 the aviaries until finally caught up again. 



Last year I tried again, liberating on this occasion five 

 Rufous-necked Weavers (two cocks and three hens), three 

 Orange Bishops (one cock, tw^o hens), and a pair of Barbary 

 Doves. All these birds stayed well. The first to disappear was 

 the hen Barbary Dove wdiich vanished without trace about three 

 wrecks later, upon wdiich the cock was caught up. About six 

 weeks later only a pair of Rufous-necked Weavers and the 



